It follows his deeply weird speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – where his song choice was both entirely normal for him and entirely inappropriate for the setting. Oh, and RFK Jr took a swim in a river full of human poop
Donald Trump continues his corruption tour of the Middle East today, landing in Doha to meet with the Emir of Qatar – and presumably pick up his new plane.
It follows his deeply weird speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – where his song choice was both entirely normal for him and entirely inappropriate for the setting.
And the world saw him lavishing praise on Mohammed Bin Salman, the ruthless leader of Saudi Arabia – an oppressive regime which outlaws homosexuality, feminism and atheism.
New details have emerged on how Trump was dragged kicking and screaming into a u-turn on China tariffs.
Oh, and RFK Jr took a swim in a river full of human poop.
Here’s a roundup of all the most unhinged and mind-bending things Donald Trump and his team did in the last day or so. Buckle up.
1. Sleepy Don
After years of branding predecessor Joe Biden “Sleepy Joe”, Trump had his own moment of “resting his eyes” after arriving to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The US President touched down in Riyadh for the first leg in a three-country tour round the Middle East.
But the chairs in the Crown Prince’s palace must have been pretty cosy, because – dozens of cameras broadcast his image around the world – because the 78-year-old President appeared to “rest his eyes” for a while.
At 78 years and seven months, Donald Trump is the oldest person ever inaugurated President – beating Biden, who was 78 years and 61 days.
2. Inappropriate songs
The lengthy, rambling address he delivered in Riyadh – his first major speech on foreign soil since returning to the White House – mainly resembled the monologues he delivers at his MAGA rallies.
But parts of his usual routine sat uncomfortably in Saudi Arabia, where feminism, atheism and homosexuality are punishable by jail.
Trump went on stage, as he always does, to Lee Greenwood’s patriotic song “God Bless the USA” – the chorus of which runs: “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free.”
And he left the stage, as he always does, to the Village People’s gay anthem YMCA.
READ MORE: How Donald Trump turned the White House into a tacky gold palace full of trinkets in 100 days
3. He helped cleanse Mohammed Bin Salman’s profile no end
A lot of people have been asking what Saudi Arabia gets out of chumming up to Donald Trump quite so much.
And we got our answer yesterday – PR.
The Kingdom got a whole day of media coverage of their impressive ballrooms and exquisite hospitality, with extremely comfy looking chairs and dramatic sweeping camera moves. And nobody got abducted or murdered.
Unlike, for example, Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist who was brutally murdered by agents of the Saudi regime in Istanbul in 2018.
In his speech, Trump fawned over Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, calling him “an incredible man” and a “great guy,” and made no mention of human rights concerns in the country.
4. Trump’s luxury jet gift from Qatar is getting worse all the time
As I mentioned yesterday, Qatar’s offer of a plane to Trump should, theoretically, be pointless.
He’s getting a new Air Force One anyway – though he regularly grumbles it’s taking too long for the Boeing jet to be made available to him.
But the reason it’s taking so long is that Air Force One is, literally, a flying fortress. Before it can be brought into service, it needs to be taken apart, piece by piece, to ensure it’s secure to the highest standards expected by America’s security services.
And so it should be for the Qatar jet – even more so considering as recently as 2017 Trump was complaining that the state had been a “funder” of terrorism.
Before he can fly on it, theoretically, the security services need to ensure the plane isn’t bugged, boobytrapped or full of Greeks poised to invade Troy.
Trump, however, seems to have other ideas.
During an interview with (who else?) Fox News’ Sean Hannity, the President complained bitterly that his plane – one of the most sophisticated aircraft in the world – is “much smaller, much less impressive” than those used by the leaders of oil-rich Gulf states.
“We’re the United States of America, I believe we should have the most impressive plane,” he said.
“I don’t want to hurt Boeing, but they are very late with the plane, and Qatar heard about it, and he’s a great leader, and he said if I can help you, let me do that. And they had a plane, not a new plane at all…
“Because it’s going to be a couple of years I think before the Boeings [to replace the current Air Force One] are finished.”
Trump is clearly set on using the Qatari plane pretty much straight away…
5. How Trump’s team talked him into backing down on China tariffs
After days of signalling he was going to perform a screeching u-turn on his 145% tariff on goods from China, Trump finally confirmed it in an executive order on Monday.
For (another) 90 days, the tariff rate on goods from China will come down from 145% to 30%, while China agreed to cut its retaliatory tariff from 125% to 10%.
There’s also cuts to tariffs on small packages – like those from Shein, AliExpress and Temu – from 120% to 54%.
But how did Trump change his mind from “everyone be patient, there will be some pain” to “nah, let’s be vaguely sensible” so spectacularly?
Well, according to The Washington Post, his team saw an opening and drove a wedge in.
Key members of Trump’s inner circle told him blue-collar workers – who Trump sees as a part of his political base – were warning the tariffs were hurting them.
“The key argument was that this was beginning to hurt Trump’s supporters — Trump’s people,” a source told the Post.
“It gave Susie [Wiles, Trump’s Chief of Staff] a key window.””
6. A tiny company with ties to China bought a LOT of TrumpCoin
While Trump’s away on his overt corruption tour of the Middle East, a firm with ties to China bought a LOT of TrumpCoin.
GD Culture Group, a tiny, struggling technology company with only eight employees and recorded zero revenue last year, secured funding to buy as much as $300 million of Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency, according to the New York Times.
It comes amid warnings foreign entities were buying up the so-called ‘meme coin’ in order to curry favour with the President.
The firm, a publicly traded company which has a Chinese subsidiary, operates an e-commerce business on TikTok.
The firm said they would spend $300m from a stock sale to an unnamed entity in the British Virgin Islands in order to buy a stockpile of Bitcoin and $TRUMP.
The firm’s struggling stock price rose 12% after the transaction was announced.
In its financial disclosures, the company has noted that its subsidiary, Shanghai Xianzhui, might be influenced by demands from the Chinese government, though that is not unusual wording for a Chinese company.
7. RFK went swimming in sewage
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, America’s most disappointing nephew since Donald Duck, decided to “test his immunity” by jumping in a creek in Washington DC that has been deemed unsafe because it’s full of sewage and bacteria.
Can’t imagine how he got that brain worm.
8. The Saudis got a mobile McDonalds installed for the Donald
Even more than the nodding off, this is probably my favourite picture from Trump’s Middle East tour so far.
9. He keeps saluting foreign generals
Back in Trump’s first term, he drew widespread criticism for saluting a general in North Korea – a massive no-no for a Commander in Chief.
Well, he was back at it in Riyadh, saluting the steady stream of Saudi generals presented to him one by one.